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Gallup-Purdue Index Finds WGU Grads Have Great Jobs, Great Lives

New Brief - 3/4/15

WGU grads more engaged at work and report better overall well-being than national average

SALT LAKE CITY  Graduates from Western Governors University (WGU) are more likely than graduates from other U.S. universities to have the jobs they want, feel engaged at work, and have an emotional attachment to their alma maters, according to a study conducted by Gallup in 2014.

The study, which included 4,000 WGU graduates, compared the WGU responses to the national data included in the Gallup-Purdue Index. Gallup and Purdue developed the index to examine the long-term success of graduates as they pursue a good job and a better life. The index provides insight into the relationship between the college experience and whether college graduates have great jobs and great lives.

The employment rate for WGU alumni who have graduated within the last five years79 percenteasily outdistances the national average of 66 percent.

WGU graduates are more likely to be engaged employees15 percent higher than the national average.

WGU alumni are at least twice as likely as graduates of other institutions to be thriving in all five elements of well-beingpurpose, social, financial, community, and physical.

WGU alumni are almost twice as likely to be emotionally attached to their university than alumni from other types of universitiesproof that personal connections are possible in distance learning.

“WGU grads are more than twice as likely than other college graduates to say they had a faculty member who encouraged their goals and dreams,” said Brandon Busteed, Executive Director, Gallup Education.

“Given that Gallup has found this to be the single strongest element linked to long-term success in career and life, it's a hugely positive outcome. It's not about simply having an advisor who provides course selection tips...WGU grads are being inspired and encouraged around their life goals and dreams."